Last Updated: Friday, February 15, 2013

Recent Natural Disasters 2013: Meteor in sky of Russia's
Urals region explodes with a flash and boom sound. The meteor entered
the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of at least 54,000 kph (33,000 mph). Familiar with this natural disaster? Kindly write your experience in a few sentence in the comment box below. Keep this page open or visit later to get update report.

Update 02:00 UTC; 2013/02/16-According to NASA, the shockwave from the blast was equivalent to a 300-kiloton explosion.-Fireball burst into pieces at a height of 30-50 km above the ground, the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) says.-The damage from the meteorite explosion is estimated $13 million plus.

Update 16:05 UTC-More interesting, the meteor that hit Russia today is the largest recorded object to strike the Earth in more than a century.-Meteorite blast today released hundreds of kilotonnes of energy. It is far more powerful than the nuclear test conducted by North Korea some days ago.Update 15:30 UTCMany people are asking if this is related to 2012DA14 Asteroid which is passing close to
earth today. A big NO.2012DA14 Asteroid will be at its closest approach to Earth, about
27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) above the surface of the Earth after 4 hours from now (at 19:25 UTC).

Will 2012DA14 Asteroid harm Earth?No, it poses no threat. Also note that even in the biggest telescopes, 2012 DA14 will only be a dot

NASA statement on Russian meteor:"According to NASA scientists, the trajectory of the Russian meteorite was significantly different than the trajectory of the asteroid 2012 DA14, making it a completely unrelated object. Information is still being collected about the Russian meteorite and analysis is preliminary at this point. In videos of the meteor, it is seen to pass from left to right in front of the rising sun, which means it was traveling from north to south. Asteroid DA14's trajectory is in the opposite direction, from south to north."Update 14:00 UTC-Around 1,000 are reported to be injured in Chelyabinsk region where the meteor fell.-At least 50 people are still having treatment in the hospital.-Following Russia's Interfax news agency, two people in the town of Kopeysk are in serious condition.-Nearly 3,000 buildings in Chelyabinsk have damaged including 361 schools and kindergartens .

-Meteor in sky of Russia's Urals region explodes with a flash and boom sound. The meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of at least 54,000 kph (33,000 mph). -Following deputy health minister in Russia, Meteorite has injured 571 people and 34 have been admitted to the hospital.-Russian Meteorite also damaged about 300 buildings.-About 20,000 emergency response workers have been mobilized, RIA Novosti news reports.-Russian scientist believes that one meteoroid had entered the atmosphere, where it burned and disintegrated into fragments.-The meteorites are believed to be scattered over Chelyabinsk, as well as neighboring Kazakhstan.-Such meteorites are rare in Russia. Meteorite explosion in Siberia in 1908 damaged 2,000 sq km area.-However this Russian Meterorite is unrelated to 2012DA14 Asteroid which is passing close to earth today. At 19:25 UTC today (2:25 p.m. Eastern US time), the asteroid 2012 DA14 will be at its closest approach to Earth, about 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) above the surface of the Earth.-NASA estimates that there are around 4,700 'potentially hazardous' asteroids.Below is the photo of hole in Chebarkul Lake made by Russian Meteor debris.

About Asteroids, meteors and meteorites-Asteroids orbits the Sun. They are small bodies.-Planetoids or minor planets are also called large Asteroids.-Once these Asteroids enter our planet's atmosphere, it becomes a Meteor.-If any any of these Meteor impact our Earth, they become Meteorites.